My Life in an Interracial Marriage and Family ~ It's been 25 years of fun; learning, growing, laughing & crying with each other. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Only One.....

Outside our cabin in Sunriver, OR

When you are in an interracial marriage or relationship one of the things you quickly get used to is being the only one of your particular race at family functions. When Jamie and I first started dating and then got married, this was something that we didn't even really think about until we got to whatever event it was that we were attending. All of the sudden you look around the room and think....hmmm I am the only white person, black person, etc. in the room. To be honest, because that is what this blog is all about, at first I was a little nervous at family parties because I just wanted to fit in. Then I quickly realized that was just silly, and I let go of all my worries and just had fun. After 16 years of marriage it is now second nature for both of us to be "the only one" at our various family get togethers. Christmas before last we went to Sunriver, OR with 30 plus relatives from my side of the family. Jamie's running joke with Tatiana was that they were going to be the only black people in Sunriver, and that the snow ball fights would be unfair because they wouldn't be able to "hide" in the snow! Hilarious! Last year it was Christmas with Jamie's family and I was "the only one." Now after all of these years it is just funny to me that it was ever an issue, even if only for a minute. We love each other's families to pieces (mind you this did not happen over night, but that's another post for another day)....crazy as we all are, and we wouldn't have it any other way!